Who We Are

• One of Canada’s largest environmental NGOs
• Originated in 1962 from fish and wildlife conservation movement
• “To conserve and inspire the conservation of Canada’s wildlife and habitats for the use and enjoyment for all”
• Freshwater, marine, and terrestrial programs

CWF’s Approach to Conservation

1. Instill conservation ethic in Canadians
2. Engage Canadians in conservation actions
3. Fill gaps in our scientific understanding of species and threats
4. Carry out species and habitat conservation projects
5. Advocate for strong laws, policies, and programs to conserve wildlife and habitat

National Fish Passage Program

Increased freshwater focus on connectivity and fish passage:

• Chinook salmon research in Upper Yukon River
• American eel research and advocacy
• Fish passage advocacy and barrier campaigns
• Watershed Connectivity Restoration Planning framework and barrier remediation in BC, AB, PEI, and NS
• Spatial tools to assess watershed connectivity and prioritize barriers for remediation
• Development of the Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database (CABD)

What is the conservation issue?

What we know:

• Structures like dams, culverts, and dykes block the movement of fish (and other species) and energy/matter
• Barriers to connectivity are extensive across Canada
• Barriers removal needed to restore access to important habitat and ecosystem functions
• Restoration projects are expensive

What is the conservation issue?

What we don’t know:

• How many barriers exist in Canada?
• How much habitat is not accessible?
• How do we identify the most important barriers to maximize benefits?

We need comprehensive information to answer these questions

Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database (CABD)

Project Background

• CABD = central pillar of tools to support CWF’s fish passage program
• Identify and prioritize barriers for restoration
• Inspired TNC, NCC, and local/regional initiatives (e.g., Adopt a Stream, Fishwerks)

A Roadmap for Improving Connectivity

• TNC’s Northeast Aquatic Connectivity Assessment Project:
  • A database as a partnership building tool
  • Brings groups together and centralizes efforts
  • Led to significant improvements to fish passage and connectivity

Penobscot River Restoration (Maine)

• Partnership between government, Indigenous groups, NGOs, and industry
• Two dam removals and one nature-like fishway
• 2018: 2.8 million+ river herring returned

Importance of Collaboration and Engagement

• Potential uses of CABD extend beyond CWF’s needs
• Launched external engagement to get input on development
• User interviews
  • What type of work could the CABD support?
  • What information would be useful?
  • How would users like to access the data?
• Working Group and Technical Advisory Committee

Data Gathering and Sharing

• CABD relies on existing repositories
  • Local in scale
  • Single barrier types
  • No standardization
• CWF provides national coordination without duplicating effort
• Establish reciprocal relationships
  • Share data back to providers

What will the CABD be used for?

1. Habitat status assessments and reporting (watershed → national scales)
2. Informing management and regulatory decisions
3. Restoration planning and prioritization
4. Research and monitoring
5. Education and public outreach

CABD Components

1. Hydrographic networks

2. Barrier data

3. Web map and tools

Barrier Data

• Standardized data structure through engagement
• Current barrier types:
  • Dams (includes some other structures for now)
  • Waterfalls
  • Fishways (inherited CANFISHPASS from the Cooke lab at Carleton University)
• Next steps:
  • Stream crossings (road, rail, trail)
  • Lateral barriers (dykes/levees, embankments, etc.)
  • Others?

 

Barrier Data Processing

Five main steps:

1. Data source compilation
2. De-duplication
3. Spatial attribute mapping
4. Geolocation (including snapping to hydro network)
5. Non-spatial information collection

Attribute mapping

1. Aggregate attributes from existing spatial sources
2. Identification of non-spatial data sources (search engines)

CABD v1.0

Dams Waterfalls Fishways

36,799 22,194 408

CABD v1.0

Are the CABD v1.0 datasets perfect? No!

Phase 1 = compile, deduplicate, and standardize existing datasets

Phase 2 = fill data gaps

CABD v1.0

Are the CABD v1.0 datasets perfect? No!

• Data gaps exist (structures and attributes)
• But, most comprehensive and standardized datasets available nationally
• Not a one-time effort → living datasets
• CWF, partners, and practitioners across the country can help contribute data and updates

Demo!

Next Steps

• Continue information gathering
  • Phase 1: Compile existing datasets (including stream-crossings)
  • Phase 2: Begin to fill data gaps (with input from citizen scientists!)
• Expand features in the web tool
• Develop additional tools (e.g., standardized barrier assessment protocols, mobile apps)

National Barrier Assessment Protocols

Develop national, life-stage and species agnostic stream crossing assessment protocol to:

1. Provide a protocol that can be applied across Canada, particularly where regional protocols don’t exist
2. Inform data structure for stream crossings in CABD

National Barrier Assessment Protocols

• Hosted workshop Feb/Mar 2023
• Learn, share, and promote collaboration and coordination

Outcome: form working group to finalize collaborative national protocols

Connectivity Assessment and Reporting

• DFO’ status of fish and fish habitat reporting
  • What is the state of fish habitat connectivity in Canada?
  • DFO has recognized CABD as data source to assess connectivity
• Hosted ‘Advancing Approaches for Assessing Freshwater Connectivity in Canada’ workshop with ECCC, DFO
• CABD can help centralize, coordinate, and modernize reporting

Connectivity Planning and Prioritization

• Watershed Connectivity Restoration Planning framework
• Collaborative planning of strategic barrier restoration
• Applied in BC, AB, PEI, and NS
• Guide document for connectivity planning in Canada
• CABD supports watershed-scale planning work

Supporting Policy and Management Decisions

• CABD contributes to multilateral initiatives to improve policy and management for conservation and management of connectivity:
  • Connectivity Working Group (Pathway to Canada Target 1)
  • National Program for Ecological Corridors (PC)
  • Freshwater connectivity indicator for protected areas in Canada
• Open data source to inform regulatory decisions under federal and provincial acts (e.g., Fisheries Act)